Doctors at a Melbourne hospital have suggested hospitals Down Under would do well to lock up their hand sanitiser, after one patient got lashed on six bottles of antibacterial brew.
According to a concerned letter in the Medical Journal of Australia, a 45-year-old chap with "a history of polysubstance misuse" was being treated …

uurgh

This isn't only down under....

This has been happening in UK hospitals for a while, when an alcoholic is submitted to some wards, they remove all the hand rub for this exact reason. Also fastening them down won't help as I've seen people move from ward to ward with a plastic cup, emptying the bottles.

Re: This isn't only down under....

Can confirm this. My brother's significant other is an Accident and Emergency nurse, and she mentioned the problems they have with patients drinking the hand rub ages ago. There again, it does smell remarkably like vodka.

You don't seem to understand the term Alcoholism

When you're an alcoholic you've basically got to have alcohol otherwise you go mental and go into a fit/seizure so anything will do. Having said that most Alkies go for the mouthwash before the hand sanitizer and aftershave. Aftershave is usually the last on the list only because it comes out in tiny drops.

Surprising

I'm surprised the stuff isn't laced with a healthy dose of Bitrex to make it completely impossible to drink. Most household chemicals are made deliberately bitter to prevent them being drunk by children or alcoholics.

Nothing new here - move on

As previously noted this is a common problem.

However, all alcohols are anti-microbial. Methanol and isopropyl alcohol work just as well and have the added advantages of being fatal in lower amounts than ethanol. Bugs and burdens upon society removed at a stroke.

On a more serious note, there are many better anti-microbials than alcohol available. The problem is that nobody - esp. the NHS - will go against the WHO recommendations, that are decades out of date, for fear of being sued.

Denatonium Benzoate

Well

Re: Bitrex

As any dedicated nail biter will confirm, it doesn't take long to get used to the taste of bitrex - unfortnately for my nails. And for a physical addiction/illness like alcoholism it would be a totally ineffective detterent.

Removed from Irish prisons

Look on the positive side

Not just hand sanitizer...

...but also automotive fuel.

Yes, 30 years ago automotive ethanol (in Brasil, mind you) had no additives. You guessed it, 98% spirits at 30p per liter (or try to think something really cheap). Cheaper than water back then. For something related to human addiction. Sold 10 gallons at a time.

People soon caught up. So the gas stations and oil companies.

There was even a joke (more like a TV gag) about a man inserting some sugar, ice cubes and lemons in a car tank...